Andy Burnham visits Guy Martin’s 'House Without Bills'

Greater Manchester Mayor commends Passivhaus retrofit project

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham appeared in the recent Channel 4 programme 'House Without Bills' with Guy Martin, visiting a recently-completed Passivhaus retrofit in Stretford in Trafford. The programme follows the nine-month renovation of a semi-detached house in the Manchester suburb of Stretford, with the ultimate aim of driving its heating bills as low as possible. This involves a total transformation to Passivhaus retrofit standards, with Guy Martin working on each of the key installations. Guy then shows off the finished house to Andy Burnham.

Andy Burnham visiting Guy Martin's House Without Bills. Image credit: North One/ Channel 4

You’ve done something that will capture a lot of people’s attention. Freeing people from the fear of the bill in the letterbox. Wow – what a thing that is.

I think that’s where Britain has to get a new mindset. Often we’re so short-term on the cost of this and that. Scandinavia, Germany and other places say no let’s do it right first time, with the right standards and the right regulations, and then over time the cost is lower.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

The Stretford Passivhaus retrofit project featured in the programme has been undertaken by a project team of companies from across the North West including Progress in Practice, Myzsa Group, and ZE Passivhaus. Other Passivhaus projects in the Greater Manchester area include the Greenhaus and Willohaus social housing projects in Salford. The University of Manchester's new Fallowfield campus is also targeting the Passivhaus standard.

We are delighted by Andy Burnham’s recognition of the importance of high building standards to deliver long term value. Greater Manchester is becoming a hotspot of Passivhaus activity, both newbuild and retrofit, from large scale social housing to student accommodation. We hope that this project might inspire Greater Manchester to crack on with even more Passivhaus projects.

Jon Bootland, Chief Executive, Passivhaus Trust

Guy Martin outside Stretford Passivhaus retrofit. Image credit: North One/ Channel 4

I am about performance and efficiency, whether it’s turbo in engines or heating my house.

To try to convert an existing house to this standard was a massive job because it’s all about build quality. All of these new builds, however many thousand new homes they’re planning on building every year for the next few years, they need to be built right. Because if we don’t build them right we’re going to have the same problem again. Maybe building to Passivhaus is the extreme but it is the gold standard. This is what housing standards need to be.

Do it well, do it once.

Guy Martin, TV Presenter

The Channel 4 programme highlights the technical challenges and benefits of undertaking a Passivhaus retrofit and explores how to improve the efficiency and comfort of existing homes using the international Passivhaus standard and methodology. For those inspired by the programme, the Passivhaus Trust has a range of resources on Passivhaus retrofit for both homeowners and construction professionals:

Top tips for affordable Passivhaus retrofit, including step-by-step and staged approaches.
Case studies and 'Lunch & learn' webinars sharing examples of Passivhaus retrofit projects on a range of housing typologies, from terraced houses to barn conversions, and heritage cottages to 1970s semis.
Masterclass webinar series on Passivhaus retrofit for building professionals interested in improving their retrofit skills
Passivhaus Learning Hub offering guidance papers, training videos, and interactive courses